Fight in the Arctic Blight

A fight broke out immediately that pitted Taron Tessera and Zable in a deadly fight against seven members of the order as well as Alkehest Greenstar, their leader. Alkehest drank a potion that made him grow 5 times larger and started to duel Taron.

As the dynamic duo were being pelted by toxic and burning tonics, Artephius Mercury took the guise of one of the members of Aqua Regia, Reggie, and scaled the Arctic Blight and found a large stash of the gems. With nimble grace that only a drugged up 900 year old man could have, gracefully entered the window of the storage room and destroyed the gems by setting fire to them. He briefly paused to grab one of the gems but when he touched it, the gem disturbed him too much and through it into the fire.

Both Taron and Zable seem to be losing the fight against the alchemists and decide to try to retreat. As they are trying to escape, Art starts throwing bombs at the members of the Order.

Alkahest sees Art and decides to call a retreat and they escape on Flying Carpets! Of course not before Alkehest drops a fire bomb in the already burning ship (thanks to Art) and nearly kills Taron in the process.

Taron flies into the ocean as the ship explodes but manages to faintly make out a list on parchment on a alchemy desk.

Zable and Taron both struggle to swim to safety but Art manages to save Taron from drowning.

When the intrepid adventurers get to shore they are greeted by the villagers of the island and they offer help to the adventurers. However, Taron only wants to find Rusdagar. He learns from a villager that a man named Mundo Bundungo stole Rusdagar!

What will the adventurers do now? Try to chase the mysterious leader of the Acqua Regia or save Rusdagar from an unknown fate?!?

Journey to the Islands

After deciding to intrepidly go towards the Ostlea Islands, Raheem DeVaughn told the Shields to go to his mansion and pickup some gear for the trip since the adventurers helped him out so much.

The adventurers go to Raheem’s wondrous bayside mansion next to the markets. They are greeted by Elsie Eras, Raheem’s secretary. She tells them that Jimbo will accompany them to the storeroom to help secure the gear for the intrepid heroes.

The Shields took a wonderful bounty of potions from the storeroom and went to the docks to find passage to the islands. After snooping around the docks, they encountered Captain Duty Getie, captain of the Fraternity. They questioned the crew about the Black Gems and where they may find them and were directed to the shadier area of the market where one could find ill-begotten goods.

The Shields made it to the Islands without any problems and scoured the areas asking anyone about where to find ill-begotten goods and possibly evil Black Gems.

They met Ranjit, a shady gem dealer who after being probed for a long time, divulged that some alchemists were making some Black Gems and seeing them for a few hundred gold. He explained also that vassals of important lords from Eberon and other townships and cities procured these gems for their lords. Ranjit also said that the alchemists were selling their wares on a ship called the Arctic Blight.

The Shields confronted the gem trading alchemists and met their mysterious leader, Alkehest Greenstar. Under the guise of traveling vassals for an important lord, Zable Boobe did not realize Alkahest lit a candle of Zone of Truth and forced her to reveal her true intentions! Intentions of stoping the trade of the gems and possibly killing the alchemists!!

of the Black Gem

The intrepid Shield’s awake to find themselves in the swampy region near the forests of Legolin, kingdom of the Elves!. As they rouse from there nightmare back in Gehenna they are greeted by menacing figures! As the fog clears they all appear to be cafolk but Shaqembe cannot recognize them. The leader, a super jacked hulking catfolk, identifies himself as Chestshire and tells the Shields that this is Victor’s domain now!

The adventurers suddenly wake up!

As they rouse themselves, they notice they are in the forest that they fought the goblins in a few days ago… A man named Tycer Suncatcher comes over to them saying they suddenly fainted after taking the black gem out of the city and Damonos sent him to help the Shields. The intrepid party realized that they had been hallucinating and that Gehenna was not destroyed. At first the group felt threatened by Tycer but gained his trust as they went through the forest towards the shrine to destroy the gem. As they approach the shrine, Tycer faints and falls of the noble and powerful Rusdagar. Suddenly, they are attacked by deranged goblins who attack with a savagery not seen by any goblins they have encounter yet! After a fierce battle where Rusdagar killed most of the goblins, they now have to decide how to destroy the black gem.

Tyler awakes and sees a holy hammer in which to smash the gem upon the altar at the shrine. The Shields start to argue who should destroy the gem and try to prevent Tycer from destroying it. However, Tycer smashes the gem into pieces releasing a large dark wave of evil energy destroying all living things around the shrine. Luckily the Shields were standing in the protective waters of the shrine and were saved! Unfortunately for Tycer, he was totally wounded during the blast in a most gruesome of ways. His body was tainted with the evil black gem energy and to Taron’s dismay, Art and Zable both execute Tycer to prevent any further destruction the gem’s energy may have caused.

Taron storms off towards Gehenna in a righteous rage as the rest of the Shields meander back on their own.

As they all meet up at the Citadel of Blood, Taron and Zable get into a very heated argument until veteran guard, Ol’ Lusty breaks up the fight and shows them to Damonos for a debriefing of the situation.

Damonos is saddened by the news of his most trusted Primate dying in the fight. He goes on to tell the intrepid Shields that after some studying and consultation, the gem appeared to be manufactured by some kind of ancient alchemy. Raheem DeVaughn also told the adventurers that he heard some gems of similar description were being sold in the markets! Despite Raheem’s agents inside the market telling the vendors to leave Raheem believes that the merchants should be stopped before the gems are distributed around the entire kingdom. The Shields decide to follow the merchants to the Ostlea Islands in hopes to end the production of the gems and intrepidly save the day!

also the fall of Gehenna

The New Shields were tasked by Raheem DeVaughn to help the economy of the famous Gehenna Marketplace. The Shields got to work to find the solution for Gahenna’s money problems. Taron Tessera expertly found a town crier stand and found some out of work bards to perform some music in the markets. Zable Boobe used her inspiring words to invoke the feelings of security and patriotism to spend and trade within the markets! The adventurers probed further into the situation of people’s distrust to be in the markets and talked to a fellow by the name of Skippy Magoon and was told that people needed food and more security to feel safe in the marketplace. He explained that since the Goblin Siege was going on, people had less access to goods to ships not leaving the docks as frequently and the farms outlying Gehenna had been raised by the goblins. The party immediately funded poorer townsfolk to spend gold and help the traders out as well as the townsfolk.

The party also starts the Gehenna Defensive Initiative! The party donated 1000 gold pieces to the markets guards to equip them with newer and the latest gear. Even Zable tried to show the guard to be better fighters and despite ruffling some feathers, some of the guards learned a trick or two.

With the handwork of the Shields, the marketplace started to swell with the numbers Gehenna used to have before the Goblin Siege. Raheem gladly rewarded the party with the rest of their reward!

After Art discovered the magical properties of the gem, Damonos revealed that his hand had a black mark from the gem that seemed to grow. Art said there was a sacred shrine in the surrounding woods and that the gem could be destroyed in the waters on the shrine.

After hearing that information, Raheem gave them passes to leave the city and embark on their latest intrepid adventure!

As the Shields were leaving the city, they noticed that two villagers looked suspicious by having red gleaming eyes and wide-toothed grins. As Art tried to interrogate the villagers, strange things started to plague the Shields by showing them strange hallucinations and giving them nausea. As the party starts to pass out from EVIL, Shaqembe notices many dark figures approaching… then darkness

The party wakes up in the tavern eerily quiet and they couldn’t find anyone. As they went outside the building, crazed villagers ran at unnatural speeds towards the the hapless adventurers!

They flee to the Citadel only to find Damonos fully taken over by the evil black gem. They fight the villagers and helplessly try to move a simple and light throne to escape! The Shield’s true hero Rusdagar effortlessly moved the throne and the Shields escaped!!!

Finally in Gehenna!

After narrowly squeaking through a goblin siege, our Intrepid adventurers finally get into Gehenna’s tall and foreboding walls! After getting to the Citadel of Blood , they talked to High Bishop Damonos, the Holy leader of Gehenna. They discussed about the Black Gem and the adventurer’s decided to give it to Damonos for safe keeping. As a reward and a show of good faith, Damonos sent the adventurers to Reagent Thor who let them pick a few prizes from Gehenna’s treasury. Brynn Stonebeard was pretty gruff to the adventurers but offered prizes and some ways to help the failing defense of the city. After receiving their reward, the Shields were tasked to bring the head of Smergle Shivfingers. Smergle was giving the soldiers of Gehenna many problems by using guerrilla fighting tactics outside the city. When trying to leave the city the guards would not let them out but they were told by a Flying Letter to go through a secret entrance under the tavern, The Hungry Unicorn. After walking through the passage just small enough to kiss Rusdagar’s fair coat, they found the warm sun and green leaves of the forest.

After wandering around looking for Goblin tracks, the party comes across one of the shattered and broken bodies of the Fantastique Four.

Nearly giving up hope of finding Shivfingers, the party is caught off guard by the wily and strong Nergle! The adventurers fight off and kill the goblins after a lengthly battle. As they went back through the secret entrance, Zable Boobe spotted out some goblin scouts and managed to capture them and bring them to the foot of Reagent Thor. As the intrepid heroes walk into the Citadel, they discover that their old campanion Artephius Mercury has returned and has been commissioned by Gehenna to stop the Goblin Siege. After some small interagations by Zable and preparations by a few other members of the Shields, the city was under attack!

A large force of goblins were able to sneak through the tavern secret entrance because of a distraction attack led by a mysterious undead creature. After a tough battle, the undead creature started to burn away and stare into Taron’s eyes wildly as his body crumbled to dust. Art was concerned that this could have been related to his alchemical issues but under further inspection found out it was from a overpowering necromantic source.

Reagent Thor thanks the Shields greatly and tells them to meet up withRaheem DeVaughn, the Lord of Gehenna’s markets for another quest to help out the city!

After walking through the once bustling markets, they approached Raheem’s mansion. Raheem offered the heroes 5000 gold pieces to make people confident to shop at the markets during the siege. He assured the Shields that it was completely safe to shop there due to the location of the market and his team of security. The adventurer’s collect their bounties and their courage for their next intrepid adventure!!!

Dash's Last Soliloquy

Our intrepid adventurers dash off to catch the fleeing bard Dash Sparktongue! Unfortunately, Ein get captured by the town guard before the could escape the closing town gates and only three of our heroes manage to maintain pursuit.

Taron was able to use his masterful horsemanship to stay on Dash’s tail but it took the superior tactics of Shaqembe whose knowledge of the area found a shortcut to cut of the fleeing thespian.

Dash, in trouble, cast a powerful sleep spell that knocked out Shaqembe and Taron out. Taron who woke to the ground after falling off his mighty steed, immediately saw that they had fallen into a goblin war patrol!

They fought valiantly but Dash was slain by a javelin in the neck. The New Shields were able to kill the whole goblin group except for one hobgoblin that ran away.

After heroically looting all the bodies, Taron discovers a Black Gem on Dash that is cold to the touch. The party does not know what it is exactly.

They came across a puzzle shrine on their way to Gehenna and solved it after a long time. Getting some gold, a ring and a special map fragment .

They finally got to Gehenna and when inside the large walls was approached by High Bishop Damonos who sensed a great evil emanating from the group. The Shields showed the Black Gem and they were taken to the Citadel of Blood.

No time for an intermezzo!

With Gehenna in the distance, The Shields of Havara make a pit stop in the town of Billton. After arriving, they see a large group of people surrounding a really really good looking bard. They find out that the bard is the world famous Dash Sparktongue! The intrepid adventurers get rubbed the wrong way by Dash’s extreme arrogance. The group decides that some R&R is much needed and go a little crazy in their room. Dash gets annoyed and tells the party off. After seeing some shadowy figures following Dash, they realize that the figures are a group of assassins planning on killing Dash and they try to protect him. Using great investigation skills and spy tactics they find the two assassins in the Grinning Badger Inn, which coincidentally is where the Shields were staying! They find out that the assassins are planning on killing Dash during one of his plays and go to the famous theatre in the town, Quentin Hall. While trying to protect Dash, Taron Tessera accidently punches out Dash and knocks him out. Using the Hat of Littlesouth, Taron disguises himself as Dash and puts on a terrible performance. They find out that the potion in the last scene of the play is the dealth brew that would kill Dash. They stop the assassination and interrogate and kill the assassins. What they didn’t know was that Dash was trying to be killed because he was a threat to Havara and the assassins were sent by the King. After realizing their mistake, the Shields chase after Dash who is "dashing’’ of towards Gehenna!

Geting Baby Fever

Our intrepid adventurers continue on their way towards Gehenna! They stop at the half-way point between White Rock and Gehenna in the bustling trading town of Fogmeadow. As the New Shields approach the town they are met by a mysterious figure named Ein Reiner. Ein tells the party that the town captain wants to talk to them. To their surprise, they see Artephius Mercury with Daniel Goldtooth, the town captain. The village has been under constant fear as a “monster” went around town randomly to capture mostly small children and babies. The party agreed (Art agreed) to help the town. Ein tracked down the “monster” with no help from Rusdagar, the former party tracker/leader. When the party approached the den of the monster, they were attacked by it’s spawn of mutated babies! They party fought hard and Shaqembe and Ein Reiner were both affected by baby fever! Which is a crippling disease and paralyzed the two doomed heroes. With the loud commotion the monster awoke and approached the party. Taron Tessera made a mighty charge against the monster and gravely wounded it. Both Zable Boobe and Artephius Mercury worked together to inject the monster with Art’s cure using True Strike. The monster howled in pain as slowly transformed back into his original self. But to Art’s dismay, it was not the person he thought it would be. Charles Rose was passed out on the ground and the baby spawn he created also turned back into screaming, frightened babies. The town lauded the heroes’ return and the town captain, Daniel Goldtooth was so happy that he went out and had drinks with the heroes on him! It slowly turned into a large party!
Meanwhile, Art performed tests and asked questions about Charlie’s current state and asked what Charlie knew. It turns out that he was a farmer on the outskirts of Gehenna and was attacked from the behind by a mysterious being. Art also found out that the High Pope Lazarus went to Gehenna to pick up some kind of artifact. The party doesn’t know if the High Pope is still in Gehenna. They rush off towards the besieged city with some new members (Artephius Mercury and Ein Reiner) with ambivalent missions to save Gehenna!

New Enemy in the Scabbard!

The Shields come to the small town of Littlesouth. Little did they know that their little pit stop would turn into a full fledged intrepid adventure! People in the town were being killed for no apparent reason and the Shields agreed to find and capture the perpetrator. When the party used Zable Boobe as bait to lure the attacker, Zable was immediately knocked out by a powerful bow attack by the assassin. Through good use of sleep spells and brute force, the attacker was cut down. The party forgot to stabilize the assassin and she bled out. The party then rummaged through her belongings and found out that she was a Sword of Teldres! A secret order of warriors bent on killing the inhabitants of Havara. When the group returned to Littlesouth, they were greated with a party in their honor and the day was named Shield Day in honor of the group that saved the town from certain destruction. The party is now refreshed and stronger than ever as they head off in the sunrise towards Gehenna!